Spring-loaded pressure-releasable door latch means



Nov. 27, 9 R. K. NOTTINGHAM 2,576,635

SPRING-LOADED PRESSURE'RELEASABLE DOOR LATCH MEANS Filed Sept. 27, 1948 I 2 SI-lEETS-ShEE-T 1 INVENTOR. Ra/ /z A. Nofiz'ng/mm fryer/16y:

1951 R. K. NOTTINGHAM SPRING-LOADED PRESSURE-RELEASABLE DOOR LATCH MEANS Filed Sept. 27, 1948 2 SHEETS-S'fiET 2 INVENTOR. Ra oh K. Nolzz'ny/zam ffur'rrlsy Patented Nov. 27, 1951 SPRING-LOADED PRESSURE-.RELEASABLE DOOR LATCH MEANS Ralph Kenneth Nottingham, Portland, reg., as-

signor to Phillips Tutch Latch 00., New York, .N. .Y., a corporation of Delaware Application September 27, 1948,'Serial'-No. 51,411

' 6 Glaims. (Cl. 292.99)

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a latching device which is entirely concealed within one of the two movable parts.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a latch which automatically operates to latch .the parts :together when the parts are brought together and which may be released bi Shifting one of the parts slightly with respect to the other. A principal advantage of the present invention is to provide a concealed Tlatc'h which may be :opened by lightly pressing against the movable member.

.A further object :of the present invention is to provide a compact :arrangement which may be rapidly mounted in a hole bored :into a wooden member such as a door. The advantages re sulting from this construction are numerousand include reduction of labor cost by eliminating square mortise iholes, since the latch :may be mounted'in around hole bored with an ordinary brace and bit.

A further object .of the "present invention is to provide a latch of the foregoing character which may operate regardless 'of the spacing of the two members, within the limits of the device. In the prior art, latching devices %of the automatically releasing type had to be mounted within very close limits. With thepresent invention the door may be spaced from the door jamb by a variable amount in the order of 1 1; of an inch of 1% of an inch without in anyway afiecting the operation of the 'devicathereforeian"advantage oi the present invention is that a part may shrink or warp without requiring resetting of the :latch parts;

The advantages and objects of the present inention will be more .iully appreciated by study or the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, while the features of novelty will be more distinctly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Fig. '1 is a horizontal section through a .dooranddoor zframes'showing the latching device of "the present invention holding the door closed;

.Fig. 2 is a'vertical section taken substantially along line 2-2 :of Fig. .1, but with the barrel cover of the device broken away along the center-- line thereof;

Fig. .3 is a front end view of the latching device;

Fig. 4 is a front view of the .iflmb strike;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a floating tpawl r-form ing apartof the latching device;

Fig. '6 is -'a side elevation of the floating pawl;

Fig. '7 is a plan View of a spring loading' bolt forming part of the latching device;

Fig. '8 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a latch bolt forming part of the latching device;

Fig. "10 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the latching mechanism with the barrel cover removed, the view being taken substantially along line i l--'ll of Fig. :2, but with the "parts shown in the positions occupied'when the door is being closed or opened;

Fig. 12 is a section taken substantially alon line I2I2 of Fig. 2, with the parts in the relationship "disclosed'in Fig. 11;

Fig. .13 is a section taken substantially along line 13-43 of Fig. 2, with the parts in the rela'-- tionship corresponding to Fig. 11';

Figs. 14, 15 and .16 are views corresponding to Figs. 11, 12 and 13, respectively, showing the parts :in the relationship assumed when the door is approaching the closed position;

Figs. '17, 113 and 19 are corresponding views showing the parts in the relationship assumed when the door has been closed as far as possible;

Figs. 20, 21 and 22 are corresponding views showing the door when held in "latched position;

Figs. '23, 24 and .25 are corresponding views showing the :door when pushed inward slightly to release the latching mechanism;

'Fig. 26 is a View corresponding to Fig. 11, showing the 'parts in the relationship assumed whei the door is swinging open;

Fig. 27 :is a bottom view showing the parts in the positions assumed corresponding .to Fig. .11;

Fig. 28 is a bottom view showing the parts in the positions assumed corresponding to .Fig. 26; Fig. '29 is a vertical section taken substantially along line'29-2'9 of Fig.2;

Fig. 30 is a similar section taken along 'line 3030 of Fig.2; and

Fig. 31 is a similar section taken along line 3i|-3I of Fig. 2.

The latching device preferably comprises housing including a bottom wall 30 from which side flanges 3l extend upwardly. .An extension at the rear end of bottom wall 30 is bent Tupwardly, then forwardly to provide a top wall 32, the lateral edges of which overlie the side walls 3 l The forward tips of the bottom and top Walls 30 and 32 are bent laterally to provide flanges 33 and 34 respectively, in which are provided openings for the reception of a. pair of elongated screws 35. The heads of the screws 35 are received in countersunk openings in an outer end plug 36, and the threaded ends of the screws 35 are received in threaded openings in an inner end plug 31. The end plugs are tapered inwardly and are seated in the inwardly tapering ends of a cylindrical mounting member or barrel cover 38 whichisprovided with a slot 39 running from end to end thereof. The inner end of the housing is received between a pair of lugs 40 extending inwardly from the plug 31 to provide a slot for holding the inner end of the latching mechanism housing in alignment. The proportions of the various parts are such that when the inner end of the housing is embraced between the tips of lugs 48 the mounting member 33 is contracted so that the slot 39 is substantially closed and the latching device may be slipped into a bore- 4| drilled into a member such as a door 42. When the end of the cylindrical mounting member 38 is flush with the edge of the door the screws 35 may be tightened to draw the end plugs together and expand the member 38 tightly against the wall of the bore 4|, thus holding the latching device in position.

Three movable members are longitudinally slidable, and with respect to two, laterally movable to a certain extent, within the housing. These members comprise the spring loading bolt illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, adjacent which is mounted the floating pawl illustrated in Figs. and 6, and beneath which is mounted the latch bolt illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10.

The spring loading bolt comprises an elongated member 45 of sufficient width to be prevented from lateral movement by the side walls 3|. The forward end of the bolt is provided with a cam face 46 which projects through a horizontal slot 48 in the'outer plug 36. The bolt is provided with an elongated, central, longitudinally extending slot 49, from the rear end of which projects a tongue 50. The tongue 58 is of suflioient length to project upwardly through an opening 5| in the top wall 32 so as to provide an attaching point for a heavy spring 53. The heav spring 53 is normally held under sufiicient tension to keep the cam face 46 of bolt 45 projecting through the slot 48 to the extent seen in Fig. 11. When the door is brought toward the closed position so that the cam face engages a laterally projecting tab 54 on a jamb strike 55 mounted in the door jamb 51, thespring loading bolt is forced inwardly to stretch spring 53 as seen in Fig. 14. The tip of the bolt 45 is toward the outer surface of the door and the jamb strike presents a solid surface preventing outward movement of the bolt 45 so that the heavy spring 53 remains loaded unless the outer end of the spring is permitted to move inwardly as seen in Fig. 23.

' The outer end of spring 53 is attached to a lug 68 extending upwardly from a floating pawl Bl which overlies the spring loading bolt 45. The lug 60 is of sufiicient length to extend through an opening 62 in the forward end of the upper wall 32 and lies adjacent the edge of the housing toward which the cam face 45 faces. Spring 53 is thus arranged so as to exert some force transversely of the housing, tending to pull the front end of the floating pawl toward the outer surface of the door. The pawl 6| comprises an elongated leg 83 adjacent the outer surface of the door, and a forward, lateral extension upon which the lug 60 is mounted. The

forward, outer corner of the pawl is provided with a hook 64 which is adapted to hook over the rear edge of a slot 65 in the outer edge of the outer wall 3| when the pawl is moved 1333 13 "shown in Fig. 23..

4 1y by spring 53. When the hook 64 is engaged with the inner end of slot 65 the lug 68 is held outwardly so that the spring 53 may be stretched. If the hook is shifted laterally to a sufficient extent, the tension of spring 53 will cause the pawl to be snapped into the housing to the position Superimposed upon the pawl 6| is the latch bolt 10. The latch bolt comprises a straight leg H which overlies the leg 63' of pawl SI, and a leg 12 which is bent downwardly to engage the spring loading bolt 45 to prevent the latch bolt from canting. Between the legs 1! and 12 there is provided a lug 13 which projects downwardly past the leg 63 of pawl 6|, through the slot 49 of the spring loading bolt 45, and through an opening 14 in the bottom wall 38 of the housing. The lug 13 provides means for attaching one end of a weak spring 15, the other end of which is attached to the flange 33 at the forward edge of wall 30. The spring 15, when fully extended by the latch bolt 18 being moved rearwardly upon engagement with the jamb strike (Fig. 28), is tensioned sufficiently to snap all three movable parts forwardly in the housing tothe positions illustrated in Figs.'11,'l2 and 13 when the door is opened, at which position the spring 53 moves the hook 84 into engagement with the edge of notch 65 and holds it there. The lug 69 on pawl 6| extends through a notch 16 in the edge of the latch bolt 18. The rearward edge of notch 15 forms an abutment against which the lug 68 is normally held by spring 53, as seen in Fig. 23. The longitudinally extending edge of notch 16 engages the lug at all times so that if the latch bolt 18 is shifted laterally the hook 64 will be withdrawn from the slot 65, thus permittingthe pawl 6| to move inwardlyunder the influence of spring 53. The outer end of bolt 10 is provided with a cam face 1! which lies substantially parallel to the cam face 46. The cam face 11 terminates near the longitudinal centerlinerof the bolt l0 and is provided with a hook tip 18. When the door is brought toward closed position the cam face H engages the jamb strike ta'b 54to cause inward movement of the latch bolt 13 and increased tensioning of spring 53 (Fig. 14). The jamb strike is provided with an opening into which the hook tip 18 may be moved by-spring 15 when the door has been moved inwardly sufficiently, as seen in Fig.17, at which position the rear edge. of notch 16 engages lug '60. The jamb strike is mounted on the jamb 51 by a pair of screws passing through countersunk openings 8! so that the opening 80 straddles a depression 82 in the door jamb, which permits the hook tip to move outwardly to the extent permitted by the inner end of notch 16 striking the lug 60, as seen in Fig. 17. The door, or other movable member, is preferably provided with a spring opening device such as the spring-loaded button 85 illustrated in Fig. 1, so that when inward pressure against the door is released after the hook tip has entered the opening 88 the door will return slight- 1y until held against movement by the latch .tip 18 engaging the edge of the jamb strike 56; as seen in Fig. 20, at which position the hook 54 is' with drawn from notch 65. Whenit is desiredto open the door, any portion thereof may be'pressed to swing the door slightly inward until the hook tip 18 is released fromthe edge of the jamb strike opening. At this point the spring 53 operates to withdraw the floating pawl El, and" consequently the latch bolt: 10, as seen in Figs. 23 and 26. Upon release of pressure from the door the springdevice 85 cansesthe door to swin open. .As :soon as the :tip of the spring loading bolt 45 :clears the jamb strike, the-parts spring back :to the positions seen iniFig. 11.

Operation A brief recapitulation of the operation .is as follows. When the door is open the'spring loading bolt 55 and latch bolt are extended as seen in Figs. ll, 12 and '13, the springs 53 and are under slight tension, and the hookHGxl is engaged with the edge of the slot $5.. When the door :is swung shut both bolts are :pushed inward by the jamb strike, tensioning both springs.

When the door is moved inward farenoug-h, :the

latch bolt hook 18 moves out'into the opening :89 due to the i-nfluenceof spring 1 5 to latch the door. When the pressure on the door is released the :iamb strike forces the latch bolt 10 laterally, thus moving the floating pawl 61 laterally to disengage the hook 54. When it is desired to open the door inward pressure is applied until hook l8 clears the jamb strike and spring 53 moves all parts rearwardly in the housing. The door may now swing open and, when the spring loading bolt 45 is clear, the weak spring 15 will return all parts to the cocked position seen in Fig. 11. The operation of the latching device may best be described as follows: The invention comprises a latching device for co-operation with a -j.amb strike 156 comprising a'housing ('39,, 3!, 32., 33, 3d) a spring loading bolt '45 slidably guided for longitudinal movement in said housing, a floatin pawl 5! adjacent said spring'loading boltin said housing, a latch bolt 10 adjacent said floating pawl and comprising a laterally'movable hooked end '58 adapted to engage said jamb strike, said spring loading bolt and said latch bolt both having cam faces (46 and 1'!) normally projecting from said housing and facing in a direction such as to cause retraction of both bolts into the housing when said jamb strike is engaged upon relative movement of said latch and jamb strike in one direction, a weak spring 15 extending between said housing (33) and said latch bolt (lu Z3) and arranged to be placed under tension upon retraction of said latch bolt, said floating pawl comprising a hook 64 and said housing comprising means (slot 65) to engage said hook normally to hold said floating pawl against longitudinal movement with said bolts, said hook facing in the same direction as the hooked end of said latch bolt and said weak spring being arranged to apply a component of force to move said hook laterally into engagement with said housing, and a strong spring 53 extending between said floating pawl (lug 69) and said spring loading bolt (lug 5B) and arranged to be placed under tension when said spring loading bolt is retracted while said hook is engaged with said housing, said floating pawl having a lug 853 opposite said hook and said latch bolt having a, notch 16 facing away from said hook and through which said lug extends, said lug and the side of said notch being so arranged that upon slight relative movement of said latch and the stationary jamb strike in the opposite direction sufficiently to cause lateral movement of the hooked end of said latch bolt the floating pawl is also shifted laterally to disengage said hook from said housing, and said lug and the inner end of said notch being so arranged that upon reoccurrence of relative movement of said latch and jamb strike in the first direction sufficiently to disengage said hooked end from said jamb strike said latch bolt and solid "floating pawl are both retracted toward the rear of said housing by lsaid strong spring.

Of course, after :the sequence @of operation described above, when the .exposed'lends act the spring loading boltand the latch bolt clear the fiamb strike tab 54 both bolts are projected outwardly by the weak spring 15 which, itwill be noticed, is arranged-to exert a lateral component of'iorce sufficiently to :shift the narrow, outer end of the latch oo-1t -laterally so that the side edge of the notch "126 .is shifted toward the notch 65 in the side wall. The lug 1.3 at the same time engages the leg 1630f the floating pawl so that the hook is projected through the notch 65, thus reccc-king the latching device inreadiness to operate upon the next closing movement of the door.

Having illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention permits of modification in arrangement and detail. I .claim as my invention all such modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim;

1. A latching device for cooperation with a jamb strike comprising ahousi-ng, a spring loading bolt slidably guided for longitudinal movetnent in said housing, a floating pawl adjacent said spring loading bolt in said housing, a latch bol, adjacent said floating pawl and'comprising a laterally movable hooked end adapted to engage said jamb strike, said spring loading bolt and said latch bolt both having cam faces nor- .mallyprojecting from said housing and facing in a direction such as to cause retraction of both bolts into the housing when said jamb strike is engaged upon relative movement of said latch and jamb strike in one direction, a weak spring extending between said housing and said latch bolt and arranged to be placed under tension {upon retraction of said latch bolt, said floating pawl comprising a hook and said housing comprising means to engage said hook normally to hold said floating pawl against longitudinal movement with said bolts, said hook facing in the same direction as the hooked end of said latch bolt and said weak spring being arranged ,to apply a component of force to move said hook laterally into engagement with said housing, and a strong spring extending between said floating pawl and said spring loading bolt and arranged to be placed under tension when said spring loading bolt is retracted while said hook is engaged with said housing, said floating pawl having a lug opposite said hook and said latch bolt having a notch facing away from said hook and through which said lug extends, said lug engaging the side of said notch whereby slight relative movement of said latch and the stationary jamb strike in the opposite direction will cause lateral movement of the hooked end of said latch bolt and the floating pawl to disengage said hook from said housing, and said lug engaging the inner end of said notch whereby upon reoccurrence of relative movement of said latch and jamb strike in the first direction sufliciently to disengage said hooked end from said jamb strike, said latch bolt and said floating pawl will be retracted toward the rear of said housing by said strong spring.

2. The construction of claim 1 wherein said strong spring is arranged to exert a component of force tending to keep said lug against the side of said notch and hence to force said hook into engagement with said housing.

3. The construction of claim 1 wherein each of said bolts comprises a lug in addition to said lug on said floating pawl, said housing comprises a plurality of openings through each one of which one of each of said lugs extends, and said springs are attached to said lugs outside of said housing.

4. A latching device comprising a housing, a spring loading bolt slidably guided for longitudinal movement in said housing, a floating pawl adjacent said spring loading bolt in said housing, a latch bolt adjacent said floating pawl and comprising a laterally movable hooked end adapted to engage a strike, said spring loading bolt and said latch bolt both having cam faces normally projecting from said housing and facing in a direction so as to cause retraction of both bolts into the housing upon engaging a relatively stationary object such as a jamb strike upon relative movement of said latch and object in one direction, a weak spring extending between said housing and said latch bolt and arranged to be placed under tension upon retraction of said latch bolt, said floating pawl comprising a hook and said housing comprising means to engage said hook normally to hold said floating pawl against longitudinal movement with said bolts, said hook facing in the same direction as the hooked end of said latch bolt and said weak spring being arranged to apply a component of force to move said hook laterally into engagement with said housing when said bolts are extended, and a strong spring extending between said floating pawl and said spring loading bolt and arranged to be placed under tension when said spring loading bolt is retracted while said hook is engaged with said housing, said floating pawl having a lug opposite said hook and said latch bolt having a notch facing away from said hook and through which said lug extends, said lug engaging the side of said notch whereby slight lateral movement of the hooked end of said latch bolt will cause the floating pawl to disengage said hook from said housing, and said lug thereupon engaging said end of said notch whereby said floating pawl will then be retracted intosaid housing by said latch bolt and said strong spring.

5. The construction of claim 4 wherein said strong spring is arranged to exert a component of force tending to keep said lug against the side of said notch and hence to ,force said hook into engagement with said housing.

6. The construction of claim 4 wherein each of said bolts comprises a lug in addition to said lug on said floating pawl, said housing comprises a plurality of openings through each one of which one of each of said lugs extends, and said springs are attached to said lugs outside of said housing.

RALPH KENNETH NOTTINGHAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 632,043 Chandler Aug. 29, 1899 1,183,464 Johnson May 16, 1916 1,600,881 Jackson Sept. 21, 1926 1,664,681 Hancock Apr. 3, 1928 1,896,363 Johnson Feb. 7, 1933 2,238,066 Mantz Apr. 15, 1941 Certificate of Correction Patent N 0. 2,576,635

and that the said Letters Patent shoul ve, so that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office. 'gned and sealed this 4th (1 2.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Commissioner of Patenta. 

